Etymology

keyless

K5E1Y4L1E1S1S1

Today it means: Lacking or not requiring a key. Full definition →

Proto-Germanic *lausaz ← Proto-Indo-European *lewHs- ← English key
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic*kaiju
  2. Old Englishcǣġ
  3. Middle Englishkeye
  4. Englishkey
  5. Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
  7. Proto-Germanic*leusaną
  8. Proto-Germanic*lausaz
  9. English todaykeyless

From key + -less.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.